Sunday 13th October 2019 Trinity 17

Let Thy Merciful Ears, O Lord      (Thomas?) Mudd   b c 1560

The words to this anthem are the Collect from the 10th Sunday after Trinity.

Mudd whose first name was possibly Thomas was born 1559 or 1560, and was probably born in London. His father served as organist and Vicar Choral at St Paul's. Aged 17, he matriculated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.  He was not allowed his degree because of his Catholic sympathies.  He achieved his BA from Peterhouse in 1581 and MA from Pembroke College (1584).

In 1598 he was thought to be one of England's 16 excellent musicians. Unfortunately, many compositions of this era are attributed to Mudd or Mr Mudd and so it is difficult to know which piece can be apportioned to the correct Mudd! There were a number of Mudds composing about this time.